U.S. patent number 6,271,806 [Application Number 09/174,119] was granted by the patent office on 2001-08-07 for display system.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Daichu Denshi Co., Ltd., Fourie, Inc.. Invention is credited to Tadahiro Kimura, Masayuki Kusano, Takahiko Motoshima, Shinsuke Nishida.
United States Patent |
6,271,806 |
Motoshima , et al. |
August 7, 2001 |
Display system
Abstract
A display system is realized by setting virtual units on a
screen display section constructed with nine display units and
repeatedly splitting the screen into four portions, allocating
virtual addresses each expressed with a binary value for each split
level to each split unit of the screen (area). Thus, by setting the
virtual units, the screen can be split into two portions (into four
portions on the whole) even if there are physically only three
display units along one side of the screen. For this reason, even
when the screen is repeatedly split into four portions and each
address is set to each of the split units to display an image, the
image is not trimmed of any part thereof.
Inventors: |
Motoshima; Takahiko (Tokyo,
JP), Kusano; Masayuki (Tokyo, JP), Kimura;
Tadahiro (Tokyo, JP), Nishida; Shinsuke (Tokyo,
JP) |
Assignee: |
Daichu Denshi Co., Ltd. (Tokyo,
JP)
Fourie, Inc. (Tokyo, JP)
|
Family
ID: |
17752569 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/174,119 |
Filed: |
October 19, 1998 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 22, 1997 [JP] |
|
|
9-290162 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
345/418;
345/903 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F
3/1446 (20130101); G09F 9/3026 (20130101); G09G
2310/02 (20130101); G09G 2340/0407 (20130101); Y10S
345/903 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
3/14 (20060101); G09G 005/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;345/103,903,204,1 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Hjerpe; Richard
Assistant Examiner: Nguyen; Kimnhung
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sughrue, Mion, Zinn, Macpeak &
Seas, PLLC
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A display system comprising:
a display device having a screen comprising a plurality of display
units, each display unit having a plurality of display elements
arranged in a matrix and said plurality of display units being
connected to each other; and
a control unit operative to virtually repeat at least the
following:
(1) splitting said screen into four by not necessarily setting said
display unit as a unit for splitting but setting said display
element as a minimum unit for splitting;
(2) setting a virtual address for each split unit each time when
said screen is split into four;
(3) identifying this virtual address, giving display data to be
displayed to a virtual unit having the corresponding virtual
address; and
(4) displaying an image on a part or all of said display unit.
2. A display system according to claim 1, wherein said control
unit:
(1) allocates serial addresses to display elements of each of the
display units from an edge of said constructed screen;
(2) obtains a number of display elements for each split unit by
dividing a total number of the display elements by a number of
splits in a side of the screen;
(3) obtains, by comparing values obtained by successively
multiplying the number of display elements by each value from "0"
to "a number of splits -1" to particular serial addresses, virtual
addresses corresponding to said serial addresses;
(4) tabulates virtual addresses correlated to said serial addresses
for each split level; and
(5) performs address conversion according to said tabulation.
3. A display system according to claim 1, wherein said control unit
allocates serial addresses to display elements of each of the
display units from an edge of said constructed screen; obtains a
number of display elements for each split unit by dividing a total
number of the display elements by a number of splits in a side of
the screen; and performs address conversion by multiplying the
number of display elements by "n" where "n" represents the power to
which 2 is raised as representative of the times a screen is
split.
4. A display system according to claim 1, wherein said control unit
allocates display unit addresses, comprising real and decimal
parts, to display units from an edge thereof, and allocates
internal addresses to display elements; obtains a number of display
units for each split unit by dividing said number of display units
by a number of splits in a side of the screen; multiplies the
number of display units for each split unit by a virtual address to
be obtained and performs address conversion by identifying any of
said display units according to a real part of the obtained address
and by identifying an internal address of any of display units in
the display unit according to a decimal part of the address.
5. A display system according to claim 4, wherein said control unit
is operative to obtain a number of display elements for each split
unit by dividing a number of display elements by a number of splits
in a side of the screen; and is operative to execute processing for
virtually splitting the units according to the display elements,
when a remainder results in the number of display elements for each
split unit.
6. A display system according to claim 1, wherein said control unit
allocates display unit addresses to display units from an edge
thereof, allocates internal addresses to display elements for each
display unit; and obtains virtual addresses from an equation
representing a proportion between a number of display units and a
number of splits of virtual units.
7. A display system according to claim 1, wherein said control unit
allocates display unit addresses to display units form an edge
thereof, and allocates internal addresses to display elements for
each display unit; obtains virtual addresses from an equation
representing a proportion between a number of display units and a
number of splits of virtual units; tabulates virtual addresses
correlated to addresses specified form said display unit addresses
and internal addresses of reach split level; and performs address
conversion according to said tabulation.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a display system which can be
constructed by connecting a plurality of display elements to each
other and more particularly, to a display system which can display
an entire image regardless of a number of display elements.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In recent years, a display unit such as a television, a monitor or
a display of a computer has been progressing for upsizing and
higher resolution. In addition, a main stay of display units has
shifted from a CRT to a liquid crystal display unit or a plasma
display unit, so that display units are becoming increasingly
thinner.
Especially, with a progress in the multimedia technology, a display
unit is increasingly becoming an important and indispensable item
when accessing a cyber space, and a larger size of screen with
higher resolution is strongly desired.
In addition, a display unit is used in various occasions and it is
required that the display unit is portable, and for this reason
there is desired a display unit that is compact in size when
carried, and has a large-sized screen with high resolution when
assembled, and a display unit of which screen can be assembled in
an arbitrary size as required.
However, with the conventional type of display unit, although
upsizing and high resolution thereof have been in progress,
excluding a large-sized display unit provided as a facility in a
building such as an electric bulletin board or a sky sign, entire
screen of the display unit is generally manufactured as a single
unit at the time of manufacturing, so that there are problems as
described below.
First, a user can not freely change or select size of the screen of
a display unit.
Second, when a user wants to set a display unit with a large-sized
screen, a display unit with a screen which is larger than the size
of an entrance to a room can not be carried into the room, so that
the display unit is practically restricted by size of the entrance
thereof.
Third, the display unit with a large-sized screen is inconvenient
to carry.
In addition, an image transmitting system in the conventional type
of display unit works based on a scanning line system for
continuously transmitting image data at prespecified resolution and
a number of scanning lines, and can not basically support cases
where the resolution (a number of display elements in the
horizontal direction) and a number of scanning lines (a number of
display elements in the vertical direction) are changed in
association with a change in the size of the screen, and for this
reason, the manufacturers could hardly think of any idea for making
it possible for a user to freely change size of a screen.
For example, even if the resolution (a number of display elements
in the horizontal direction) and the number of scanning lines (a
number of display elements in the vertical direction) are increased
by making the size of the screen larger, the resolution and the
number of scanning lines each constituting the image data
transmitted in the scanning line system remain unchanged, so that
it is impossible to display an image using the entire screen. If an
image is to be displayed, a portion of the screen is used for
displaying the image thereon according to resolution and a number
of scanning lines of transmitted image data. In other words, it is
impossible to increase resolution of an image displayed on the
screen even if the size of the screen is made larger.
If the resolution (a number of display elements in the horizontal
direction) and the number of scanning lines (a number of display
elements in the vertical direction) are decreased by making the
size of the screen smaller, the resolution and the number of
scanning lines each constituting the image data transmitted in the
scanning line system is still the same as the original ones, so
that all the transmitted image data can not be displayed on the
screen. In other words, any display unit with a smaller screen
results in displaying thereon only a portion of the image (an image
trimmed according to the size of a screen) displayed on a display
unit with a larger screen.
As a technology for solving the problems as described above, there
is the patent application applied for by the present applicant
(Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. HEI 9-144296). Description is made
hereinafter for an outline of this invention, however, detailed
description thereof will be made in embodiments. With this
invention, it is possible to construct a display system 100 with an
arbitrary size of screen, as shown in FIG. 20, by connecting a
plurality of pieces of unitized display unit (display unit 101) to
each other. With this type of configuration, size of a screen can
arbitrarily be set, which allows a screen even with a larger size
than that of an entrance of an office or a house to be realized
inside the room thereof. In addition, the display system can be
handled unit by unit, so that it is convenient to carry.
FIG. 21 is an explanatory view showing how the display system 100
shown in FIG. 20 is used. This display system 100 may be used, for
example, by installing on the entire wall of the room (K in the
figure), or by attaching onto a portion (Q in the figure) of the
wall surface or the roof (not shown in figure) of the room. This
display system 100 can be purchased by purchasing the display
units, so that the most suited size can be set in consideration of
size of a wall and a space inside a room. In addition, the size of
a screen can freely be increased or reduced, and a plurality of
images (a to d in the figure) can concurrently be displayed on the
system.
Sound can be adjusted automatically according to how an image is to
be displayed. For example, if an image appears on the right side of
the wall surface, sound is outputted mainly from a speaker Sr on
the right side. Volume of the sound is also adjusted according to
the size of an image. For example, if the image is small, the sound
becomes smaller in proportion to the size. If the image is large,
the sound becomes larger in proportion to the size.
This invention is also characterized in that, the resolution
becomes higher in association with magnification of an image. That
is because, as shown in a section E of FIG. 22, each of display
units 101 has a plurality of display elements 102 arranged in an
array. Accordingly, as shown in the figure, if an image A is
magnified four times to obtain an image B, and when the same image
contents is to be displayed, the image B having a larger number of
display elements has higher resolution. In contrast, in the image
display unit based on the conventional type of scanning line
system, even if the image is magnified, a number of scanning lines
are not changed, so that there is no change in the resolution.
Next, description is made for configuration of a display unit. As
shown in FIG. 23, each display unit 101 has, for example, sixteen
(4.times.4) display elements 102. Each of the display units has a
controller 103 respectively, and a storage device (not shown in the
figure) is connected to the controller 103. Data communications
between display units are performed with infrared rays. For this
reason, only the operation of arranging the display units 101 is
required, so that the need for physical connection therebetween is
eliminated (Only connection for power supply is required). Namely,
by sending image data to one of display units 101, the image data
is transmitted to other display units 101. Therefore, there is no
need of wiring for each display element like in the conventional
type of display unit.
However, with the configuration as described above as it is, all of
the image data flows straight to each of the display units 101, so
that each of the display units 101 can not determine whether it
should remain ON or OFF from the image data sent thereto.
Therefore, in this display system 100, the controller 103 of each
display unit 101 selects data corresponding to the display element
itself among the image data flown up to the displays, and each
display unit is turned ON or OFF according to contents of the
selected image data.
The image data consists of resolution information, display address
information and display data information. The resolution
information is an information for splitting of an image. An image
is split, for example, in 16 portions or 25,600 portions. It should
be noted that a display element of a display unit is the minimum
unit for split. The address information is an information for
specifying one unit of split screen. For example, when the screen
is split into four portions, four address information for
specifying each of the split units are needed. Each of the split
units in this invention is represented by a binary value. The
display data information is an information for display of a split
unit, for example, ON/OFF information for display elements
belonging to one split unit.
The controller 103 incorporated in the display unit 101 selects
image data related to the unit itself from all the image data.
Then, display elements corresponding to address information
included in the image data are lit up according to the image
data.
Next, description is made for an example of image displayed on the
display system 100 according to the present invention. At first, an
address is set for each of split units (area) of the screen. The
address is represented in a binary number. FIG. 24 is an
explanatory view showing allocation of addresses. For example, when
the screen is divided into four, addresses are set like "00", "01",
"10", and "11". (FIG. 24A). When the screen is divided into
sixteen, each of the split units obtained by splitting into four is
further split into four. Therefore, when the split unit having the
address "00" is further split into four, the address "00" remain in
the first two digits of each new address, and the addresses "00",
"01", "10", and "11" are allocated to the next two digits thereof,
so that the addresses are finally set like "0000", "0001", "0010"
and "0011" (FIG. 24B).
Similarly, when the split unit having the address "01" is further
split into four, the address "01" remain in the first two digits of
each new address, and the addresses "00", "01", "10", and "11" are
allocated to the next two digits thereof, so that the addresses are
finally set like "0100", "0101", "0110" and "0111". The similar
operation is performed for dividing the screen into sixty-four.
As described above, setting of addresses is performed by repeating
an image or a portion thereof into four portions. This address
setting will be explained in detail once more in description of
embodiments. A step of splitting the screen into four portions is
referred to as "LEVEL 1", a step of splitting it into sixteen
portions is referred to as "LEVEL 2", a step of splitting it into
sixty four portions is referred to as "LEVEL 3", and a step of
splitting it into n-th power of two portions is referred to as
"LEVEL (n-1)".
More specifically, when the image A is displayed as shown in FIG.
25, at first, a display element corresponding to the LEVEL-1
address "00" is set to black. Then, display elements corresponding
to the LEVEL-2 addresses "0000", "0011" are set to white, and
display elements corresponding to the LEVEL-3 addresses "000000",
"001111" are set to black. However, it is not known, only by
setting the addresses as described above, which level of image
should be treated preferentially, so that it is previously decided
that "the image having a higher level is to be preferential". FIG.
26A shows the image obtained as described above. It should be noted
that the same image can be obtained also when the display elements
corresponding to the LEVEL-2 addresses "0001", "0010" are set to
black, and the display elements corresponding to the LEVEL-3
addresses "000000", "001111" are set to black. Namely, a number of
combinations to obtain one of image are not necessarily limited to
one.
Next, consideration is made for a case where this image is changed
as shown in FIG. 26B. In this case, the LEVEL-3 addresses "000000",
"001111" maybe changed to "000011", "001100". The image data at
LEVEL-1 and LEVEL-2 remain the same. In the conventional
technology, when an image is to be changed, data for the entire
image is required to be sent, but in the present invention, an
address for a portion to be changed may be specified and only the
image data for the specified part may be sent. For this reason,
amount of data to be processed is reduced, which allows the time
for processing to be reduced. In addition, although a number of
combinations in order to obtain an image are not necessarily one as
described above, it is preferable to prepare an optimal combination
in consideration of a change of the image later. That is because
processing with fewer amounts of data for an image to be changed
can be more efficient.
By the way, it is preferable in the display system 100 that a
number of display units on the side of a screen is 2.sup.n because
addresses are set for each split unit (area) by repeatedly
splitting an image or a portion thereof into four portions. It is
also preferable that a number of display elements on the side of
each display unit 101 is a power of two. That is because the number
can be divided by 2 without a remainder.
Description is made for a particular example. When the size of the
screen is magnified four times by adding display units 101 thereto
as shown in FIG. 27A, the display units 101 become 4.times.4=16
pieces. Then, if the magnified screen is split into four and
addresses are allocated thereto, an image four times larger than
the original one can be obtained.
Then, as shown in FIG. 27B, if a screen display section consisting
of 3.times.3=9 pieces of display units 101 is constructed, the
entire screen can not be split into four portions. Therefore,
addresses are allocated assuming that there are 16 pieces of
display units 101 (indicated by dotted lines in the figure), and if
the screen including virtual units 101' is split into four portions
and addresses are allocated thereto, an image four times larger
than the original one can be obtained. However, the image
corresponding to the virtual unit portion placed thereon can not be
displayed, so that the actually obtained image is a trimmed
one.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide, for solving
the problems described above, a display system which can display an
entire image regardless of a number of display units.
Other objects and features of this invention will become apparent
from the following description with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
The display system according to the present invention comprises a
display device obtained by constructing a screen with a plurality
of display units each in turn comprising display elements arranged
in a matrix connected to each other, and a control unit. The
control unit virtually repeats an operation of splitting the screen
into four portions not necessarily by setting the display unit as a
unit for splitting but setting the display element as a minimum
unit for splitting, sets a virtual address for each split unit each
time when the screen is split into four portions, and identifies
this virtual address, gives display data to be displayed to a
virtual unit having the corresponding virtual address, and displays
an image on a part or all of the display unit. Because of this, an
image is displayed without being trimmed of any part thereof. In
addition, size of a screen can freely be set without requiring a
particular number of display elements.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a display system
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 2A and 2B are block diagrams each schematically showing a
display element shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a wiring diagram inside the display element shown in FIG.
1;
FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory views showing change in a screen
size and resolution when four pieces of display element are
used;
FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory views showing a relation between
size of a screen and resolution when the size of the screen is
magnified;
FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C are explanatory views showing a state in which
virtual units are set in a screen display section consisting of
nine pieces of display element;
FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a state in which virtual
units are set in a screen display section consisting of 144 pieces
of display element;
FIG. 8 is an explanatory view in a case of converting an address to
any other address with a table;
FIG. 9 is an explanatory view in a case of converting an address to
any other address with a table;
FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing an example of how the table
is prepared;
FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C are explanatory views showing a first
example in a case of converting an address to any other address
through an operation;
FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing a second example in a case
of converting an address to any other address through an operation
and when a number of display elements on one side of a display unit
is a power of two;
FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing areas corresponding to
virtual addresses;
FIGS. 14A and 14B are explanatory views showing the second example
in a case of converting an address to any other address through an
operation and when a number of display elements on one side of a
display unit is not a power of two;
FIGS. 15A and 15B are explanatory views showing a third example in
a case of converting an address to any other address through an
operation;
FIGS. 16A to 16D are explanatory views showing each processing of
setting addresses;
FIG. 17 is an explanatory view showing a data structure of a
display signal;
FIG. 18 is an explanatory view showing a correlation among a number
of split times, display resolution information, a bit length of
display address information and display resolution;
FIGS. 19A to 19C are explanatory views showing each processing of
displaying image data in the display system;
FIG. 20 is a perspective explanatory view showing the display
system applied for by the present applicant;
FIG. 21 is an explanatory view showing the use of display system
shown in FIG. 20;
FIG. 22 is an explanatory view related to magnification of the
screen and a construction of the display elements;
FIG. 23 is an explanatory view schematically showing configuration
of the display elements;
FIGS. 24A and 24B are explanatory views showing how to allocate
addresses;
FIG. 25 is an explanatory view showing a display method of an image
based on the display system;
FIGS. 26A and 26B are explanatory views each showing an example of
display an image; and
FIGS. 27A and 27B are explanatory views showing examples of display
images each depending on a different number of display
elements.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Detailed description is made hereinafter for the present invention
with reference to the related drawings. It should be noted that the
present invention is not limited to the embodiments.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a display system
according to an embodiment of the present invention. This display
system 100 comprises a screen display section 150 with plural
display units 101 each having the same configuration connected to
each other, a power unit 200 for supplying power to the screen
display section 150, and a control unit 300 for supplying a display
signal including information for display data indicating display
address information and display contents to the screen display
section 150. It should be noted that description herein assumes the
power unit 200 as an independent device, but the display system 100
may directly be connected to an ordinary home-power supply unit
(100 V). Power may be supplied to the display system 100 through
the control unit 300.
FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B each show a block diagram of a display unit 101
respectively. FIG. 2A shows topside of the display unit 101 while
FIG. 2B shows rear side of the display unit 101. The display unit
101 has plural display elements 102 arranged in a matrix, a
controller 103 for controlling a state of displaying of the display
elements, a memory (storage section) 104 for storing therein
address information for respective display element 102 in a screen
constructed by connecting a plurality of display units 101 to each
other, signal transmitting sections 105 for performing signal
transaction between the controller 103 and the control unit 300 or
other display elements 102, and power transmitting section 106 for
supplying power to the display elements 102, controller 103, memory
104 and the signal transmitting sections 105 installed therein.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are examples in which 4.times.4 (=16) display
elements 102 are arranged to form one display unit 101 to simplify
the description. However, the number of display elements is not
limited to the above number, and in practice, a degree of
integration of the display elements 102 may be enhanced as
required. One display element 102 corresponds to one pixel, and
three light-emitting diodes R, G, B are provided inside the display
element 102, so that color display can be performed with the three
colors of R (red), G (green) and B (blue).
Four power transmitting sections 106 are arranged at the central
positions of the upper, lower, left and right sides of the display
unit 101 respectively, so that, the power transmitting sections 106
of any adjacent display units 101 are electrically connected to
each other when a plurality of display units 101 are connected to
each other. Herein, the power transmitting section 106 on the right
and on the upper side have a convex shape, while the power
transmitting section 106 on the left and on the lower side have a
concave shape. The convex and concave shaped power transmitting
sections 106 are engaged with each other when the display units 101
are connected to each other. Accordingly, when the power
transmitting section 106 of any one of the display units 101 among
the plurality of display units 101 connected to each other is
connected to the external power unit 200 (Refer to FIG. 1), power
is supplied to other display units 101 through the display unit 101
connected to the external power unit 200.
Four signal transmitting sections 105 are arranged in the upper,
lower, left and right sides of the display unit 101 respectively,
so that, signal transaction can be performed between the signal
transmitting sections 105 of any adjacent display units 101 when a
plurality of display units 101 are connected to each other. It is
assumed herein that the signal transmitting sections 105 are
provided in positions displaced from the central positions of the
display unit 101 respectively taking consideration into safety in a
case where display units 101 are rotated and arranged therein.
The signal transmitting sections 105 comprises an infrared port (an
infrared communicating unit), and the signal transmitting sections
105 execute signal transaction with each other two-directionally in
a non-contact state.
FIG. 3 is a wiring diagram inside the display unit 101. A power
line 106a from the power transmitting section 106 and a signal line
105a from the signal transmitting section 105 are wired inside
thereof. Herein, the power line 106a is connected to the controller
103, memory 104, and each of the display elements 102, while the
signal line 105a is connected to the controller 103.
The control elements 102a for controlling each state of displaying
of each of the light-emitting diodes R, G and B are provided
between the light-emitting diodes R, G and B constituting each of
the display elements 102 and the power line 106a, and provide
controls for power supply to the light-emitting diodes R, G and B
according to a control signal from the controller 103
respectively.
It should be noted that the controller 103 performs, when a
plurality of display units 101 are connected to each other, signal
transaction with the controllers 103 of any other adjacent display
units 101 through the signal transmitting sections 105, recognizes
size of the screen obtained by connecting a plurality of display
units 101 to each other as well as a position of the unit itself in
the screen, generates each address information for each of the
display elements 102 in the screen according to the position of the
unit itself, and stores the information on the memory 104.
Method of Changing Screen Size and Resolution using Display
Units
Description is made for an operation of changing screen size and
resolution when four display units 101 are used with reference to
FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. If one display unit 101 has 256 display
elements 102 as shown in FIG. 4A, an image can be displayed on a
256-dot (display element) screen by one display unit 101. It should
be noted that a display element 102 corresponds to one
light-emitting diode indicated by a circle in the figure.
In this display unit 101, four signal transmitting sections 105
(infrared ports) are arranged at positions displaced from the
center line of the upper, lower, left and right sides of the
display unit 101 respectively. Accordingly, there are upper, lower,
left and right sides in the structure of the display unit 101. With
this structure, the controller 103 can accurately recognize a
position (namely coordinates) of each display element 102 on the
display unit 101 at any time.
A user can easily assemble a screen, when a screen size is to be
magnified with four pieces of this 256-dot display unit 101, only
by engaging power transmitting sections 106 of adjacent display
units 101 with each other carefully so that signal transmitting
sections 105 of the display units 101 are placed in positions
opposite to each other respectively. It should be noted that only
connection of the power transmitting sections 106 of the display
unit 101 is shown herein to simplify the description, but
practically a frame is provided as required in consideration of
connection strength between display units 101 and strength of the
entire screen.
Only by arranging the signal transmitting sections 105 simply
opposite to each other as described above, because of each of the
sections comprises a two-directional infrared port, the assembly is
easy because it does not require connection of signal lines between
each display units 101, and therefore convenient.
All the display units 101 have the same configuration, which allows
the display elements to be arranged freely. Accordingly, the
display elements are interchangeable without causing any trouble,
so that assembly thereof is quite easy.
With this display system 100, if the image (herein, a Japanese
character "{character pullout}" pronounced "a") displayed on the
screen display section 150 consisting of one display unit 101 is
displayed on the screen display section 150 consisting of four
display units 101 as shown in FIG. 5A, the image can be displayed
on the screen with its size four times as large as that of the
above screen and with resolution four times as high as that of the
above screen. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 5B, the image can be
displayed on the screen with its size 16 times as large as that of
the above screen and with resolution 16 times as high as that of
the above screen in the example of combining sixteen display units
101. It should be noted that, resolution and a number of scanning
lines have been specified in image data transmitted in the
conventional type of scanning system, and for this reason, even if
the resolution (a number of display elements) is increased by
making size of a screen larger, it is impossible to display the
image at high resolution on the magnified screen.
Setting of Virtual Units
As shown in FIG. 5C, when the image is to be displayed on the
screen display section 150 consisting of nine display units 101,
the corresponding image is trimmed as described in the example
based on the conventional technology. Therefore, in the present
invention, a display of the entire image can be realized by setting
virtual units 101V. Namely, virtual units 101V are set by splitting
the entire image into four portions regardless of a physical number
of display elements. It should be noted that, the reference numeral
101R indicates a real display unit and the reference numeral 101V
indicates a virtual unit to simplify the description. Specifically,
as shown in FIG. 6A, the screen consisting of nine display units
101R (indicated by a dotted line in the figure) is split into four
portions and four virtual units 101V (indicated by a solid line in
the figure) are set, and each of the split virtual units is further
split into four portions to set 16 pieces of virtual units 101V as
shown in FIG. 6B.
Although the description above has assumed the case where the
screen consists of nine (3.times.3) display units 101R, as shown in
FIG. 7, even when a screen display section 150 is constructed by
connecting display units 101R to each other over the wall surface,
the virtual units 101V can be set as described above. For example,
even when the screen display section 150 is constructed by
connecting 144 (12.times.12) display units 101R to each other,
virtual units 101V can be set. Namely, a four-splitting operation
can be repeated twice on condition that 12 pieces of display units
101 are connected to each other on one side. However, the following
split can not be performed in each actual display unit 101R because
there are three pieces of display unit 101R left (nine pieces in
total). For this reason, virtual units 101V are set and the screen
is further split. Thus, when the number of display units 101R is
not a power of two as described above, virtual units 101V need to
be set. Virtual units 101V may also be set from the beginning
regardless of a number of display units 101R.
Address Conversion between Display elements and Virtual Units
Next, address conversion between display units 101R and virtual
units 101V is described with concrete examples. An address when a
virtual unit is set will be referred to as a virtual address to
simplify the description. Memory 104 of each display unit 101R
stores therein converted addresses. The converted addresses may
also be stored in the control unit 300 and signals after conversion
may be sent to display units 101R.
(1) Address conversion with a table
Description is made for a case where a screen display section 150
is constructed by connecting nine display units 101R each having
sixteen display elements along one side (total 256 elements) as
shown in FIG. 8. It should be noted that, description is made
herein referring to one of the sides (along which there are three
pieces of display units 101R) of the screen display section 150 to
simplify the description. Practically, the same processing is
executed to the longitudinal and lateral sides of the screen.
As three pieces of display unit 101R each having sixteen of display
elements along one side are connected to each other, a total number
of display elements existing along one side of the screen display
section 150 is 48 (=16.times.3). At first, addresses from "0" to
"47" are allocated to the display elements from the left side to
the right side, and an address table correlating to each of the
display elements is prepared for each level. It should be noted
that addresses allocated to each of the display elements are
described serial addresses hereinafter.
Next, description is made for a display element A having a serial
address of "27" as an example. At first, as shown in FIG. 8, the
serial addresses "0" to "47" are split into two for splitting them
into four in LEVEL 1 (splitting a side into two), so that the
display element with the serial address of "24" comes at a head of
the split unit. Therefore, if the serial address of the display
element "A" is "24" or more, the address "1" is allocated thereto
as a virtual address in LEVEL 1, and if the serial address of the
display element "A"is less than "24", address "0" is allocated
thereto as a virtual address in LEVEL 1. Herein, the display
element "A" has a serial address of "27" which is more than "24",
obviously, a virtual address "1" in LEVEL 1 (split into four) is
allocated. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 9, the address "1" is
allocated to the display element "A" in the address table as the
virtual address in LEVEL 1.
Then, as shown in FIG. 8, when the screen is split into sixteen at
LEVEL 2 (split of one edge into four sections), the serial
addresses "0" to "47" are split into four, each of the serial
addresses "12", "24", and "36" comes at a head of each of the split
units respectively. Therefore, the address "00" is allocated
thereto as a virtual address in LEVEL 2 if the serial address of
the display element "A"is less than "12", the address "01" as a
virtual address if in a range from "12" or more to less than "24",
the address "10" as a virtual address if in a range from "24" or
more to less than "36", and the address "11" as a virtual address
if "36" or more.
Herein, the serial address "27" of the display element "A"
corresponds to the range from "24" or more to less than "36".
Accordingly, the virtual address "10" in LEVEL 2 (split into 16) is
allocated. As shown in FIG. 10, the address "10" is allocated to
the display element "A" in the address table as the virtual address
in LEVEL 2.
When addresses are split into 64 portions in LEVEL 3 (a side is
split into eight), a virtual address is also allocated to the
display element through the same operations. A virtual address
allocated to each display element is compared to a serial address
of a header display element within each split unit in each level as
described above to determine which is larger in address, and a
virtual address corresponding to the size of the address is
allocated to each display element. Then, a virtual address table
correlated to serial addresses of each display element (e.g., "A")
is previously prepared.
(2) Address conversion by computing (Part 1)
A display area may also be obtained by the operation of "a number
of split units.times.LEVEL". Description is made for a case where a
screen display section 150 is constructed by connecting nine
display units having sixteen display units on one side (256
elements in all) as shown in FIG. 11. It should be noted that the
description is referred to one of the sides (three pieces of
display units 101R) of the screen display section 150 to simplify
the description. Practically, the same processing is executed to
the longitudinal and lateral sides of the screen.
As three display units 101R each having sixteen elements on one
side are connected to each other, total number of display elements
on one side of the screen display section 150 is 48 (=16.times.3).
At first, serial addresses from "0"to "47" are allocated to the
display elements from left to right side.
At first, as shown in FIG. 11A, in split of addresses into four
portions in LEVEL 1 (split of a side into two), the serial
addresses "0" to "47" are split into two portions, so that, if a
total number of display elements is 48, a number of display
elements in each split unit is 24 which is half of the total
number. The serial address of the 24th display element is "23"
(because the serial address of the header display element is "0").
Accordingly, the address "24" is a header of the virtual address
"1" in LEVEL 1. Herein, the number "24" is termed as "a number of
split units". So, a number obtained by adding the number of split
units "24" to the header address "24" is an end of the address
"1".
Accordingly, an area corresponding to the virtual address "1" can
be obtained by operations of "a number of split
units.times.address" and "a number of split
units.times.(address+1)". For example, the area corresponding to
the virtual address "1" in LEVEL 1 is in a range from 24 or more
(24.times.1 (1 in a binary digit)=24) to less than 48
(24.times.(1+1)=48). In addition, an area corresponding to the
virtual address "0" in LEVEL 1 is in a range from 0 or more
(24.times.0=0) to less than 24 (24.times.(0+1)=24).
Then, as shown in FIG. 11B, in split of addresses into 16 portions
in LEVEL 2 (split of a side into four portions), the serial
addresses "0" to "47" are split into four portions, so that a
number of display elements in the split unit is "12". The serial
addresses "12" comes at a head of the virtual address "01" in LEVEL
2. So, a number obtained by adding the number of split units "12"
to the header address "12" is an end of the address "01".
For this reason, an area corresponding to the virtual address "01"
in LEVEL 2 is in a range from 12 or more (12.times.(01 in a binary
digit)=12) to less than 24 (12.times.(1+1)=24). In addition, an
area corresponding to the virtual address "00" in LEVEL 2 is in a
range from 0 or more (12.times.0 (00 in a binary digit)=0) to less
than 12 (12.times.(0+1)=12). An area corresponding to the virtual
address "10" is in a range from 24 or more (12.times.2 (10 in a
binary digit) =24) to less than 36 (12.times.(2+1)=36), an area
corresponding to the virtual address "11" is in a range from 36 or
more (12.times.3 (11 in a binary digit)=36) to less than 48
(12.times.(3+1)=48). The same operation can be performed also to
obtain an area corresponding to the case of splitting addresses
into 64 in LEVEL 3.
(3) Address conversion by computing (Part 2)
Description is made herein for two cases; one in which a number of
display elements along one side of a display unit 101R is a power
of two, and another in which a number of display elements along one
side of a display unit 101R is not a power of two.
(a) Case where a number of display elements along one edge thereof
is a power of two
In this method, addresses are not set according to a total number
of display elements along one side of the screen display section
150, but they are set according to a number of display units 101R
therein. As shown in FIG. 12, five pieces of display units 101R are
connected to one of the edges of the screen display section 150,
and display element addresses "000", "001". . . "100" are allocated
to each of the display elements. A number of display elements in
the display unit 101R is sixteen along one side, and internal
addresses are allocated to the display elements as shown in FIG.
13.
At first, to which area of the display element addresses a virtual
address indicated by the virtual address "110" in LEVEL 3
corresponds is determined. When addresses are split into eight
portions in LEVEL 3, a split unit of a virtual unit 101V is
expressed as follows:
As the address of this split unit is "000. 101", a header of the
virtual unit 101V indicated by the address "110" is expressed as
follows:
An end thereof is expressed as follows:
From the operations described above, an area corresponding to the
virtual unit 101V with the virtual address of "110" will be in a
range from 011.1100 or more to less than 100.0110.
Specifically, section W shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 12 corresponds to
the virtual address "110". It is clear from a result of operations
obtained as described above that the real number part of an address
indicates an address of a display unit 101R and the decimal part
thereof indicates an internal address within the display element.
Accordingly, the same sequence may be performed also for the case
where an area corresponding to an address other than "110" is to be
obtained.
A corresponding area can be obtained in the same manner as
described above even when the levels are different. For example,
when addresses are split into four portions in LEVEL 2, a split
unit for a left side of a virtual unit is expressed as follows:
For example, to which area of the display element addresses a
virtual address indicated by the address "10" in LEVEL 1
corresponds is determined. As the address of the split unit is
"1001.01", a header of the virtual unit indicated by the address
"10" is expressed as follows:
An end thereof is expressed as follows:
From the operations described above, an area corresponding to a
virtual unit with the virtual address of "10" will be in a range
from 010.10 or more to less than 011.11.
According to this computing method, the real number part of an
address can be indicated as a display element address of a display
unit 101R and the decimal part thereof can be indicated as split
information of the display unit 101R. Namely, in the example of
LEVEL 3, the real part "100" of the address "100.011" indicates a
display element address of a display unit 101R. The decimal part
"0.011" indicates LEVEL 3 (16 splits) because of three digits. The
two-digit decimal part indicates LEVEL 2 (four splits). The decimal
part "0.0110" indicates, as shown in FIG. 13, an internal address
within a display unit 101R.
(b) Case where a number of display elements in the split unit is
not a power of two
If a number of display elements along one side of a display unit
101R is not a power of two, the number of pieces may not finally be
divided by 2. For example, if a number of display elements along
one side of a screen display section is 48, at the point of time
when an operation for two portions is repeated four times, a number
of remaining display elements will be three, which can not be
divided by 2. For this reason, even if serial addresses are
allocated to each of the display elements as described above and
the serial addresses are used, a corresponding area (W) can not
directly be specified. Therefore, when a number of display elements
is not a power of two, the display elements are subjected to the
same processing as that in the case of virtually splitting a
display unit.
Description is made for the above case with reference to an
example. Consideration is made for a case where three display units
101R are connected and a number of display elements 102 along one
side of each of the display units 101R is nine. In a case of nine
display units along is one side, the total number is not a power of
two, and therefore can not be divided by 2. For example, when one
side is split into four portions (LEVEL 2), the split unit is
expressed as follows:
As this split unit is "0.11", a header of the virtual unit 101V
indicated by the virtual address "10" is expressed as follows:
An end thereof is expressed as follows:
From the operations described above, an area corresponding to the
virtual unit 101V with the virtual address of "10" will be in a
range from 01.10 or more to less than 10.01.
Here, the decimal part of an address is considered. The expression
described above has a two-digit decimal part. Number of display
elements 102 is nine, so that internal addresses of the display
elements 102 in the display unit 101R are "0000", "0001", "0010",
"0011", "0100", "0101", "0110", "0111" and "1000". At first, a
header of the virtual unit 101V indicated by the virtual address
"10" is obtained. As the decimal part thereof has two digits, the
virtual unit 101V is split into four, and the split unit is
expressed as follows:
An address of the header is "01.10", and the decimal part thereof
is "10". Accordingly, a corresponding internal address is expressed
as follows:
Namely, as shown in FIG. 14B, the header of the virtual unit 101V
indicated by the address "10" is the internal address "0100" in the
display unit 101R with the display element address "01".
Then, an end of the virtual unit 101V indicated by the virtual
address "10", in other word, a header of the virtual unit 101V
indicated by the virtual address "11" is obtained. Similarly, the
split unit is expressed with 10.01. Then, the address of the end
thereof is "10.01", and the decimal part thereof is "01".
Accordingly, a corresponding internal address is expressed as
follows:
10.01.times.01=10.01
Namely, as shown in FIG. 14B, the end of the virtual unit 101V
indicated by the virtual address "10" is the internal address
"0010" in the display unit 101R with the display element address
"10". As described above, by executing the processing having been
executed to the display unit to the display elements, a
corresponding area W can be identified. It should be noted that the
processing method described above is applicable not only to the
case where a number of display elements along one side of a display
unit 101R is nine but to the case where the number is not a power
of two.
(4) Address conversion by computing and with table
Next, description is made for a case where the screen display
section 150 is constructed by connecting three of display units
each having sixteen display elements along one side as shown in
FIG. 15A. Allocated to the display unit 101R are the display unit
addresses "00", "01" and "10" for each unit. Further, internal
addresses "0000", "0001", "0010", . . . "1111" are allocated to the
display elements in each display unit respectively.
Herein, a display element with the internal; address of "1000" in
the display unit 101R having the unit display address of "01" is
taken up as an example, and conversion to a virtual address is
executed. At first, the display unit address of this display unit
101R is "01" and the internal address of the display unit 101R is
"1000", so that an address to be obtained is expressed by "011000".
This address "011000" indicates a center of the display unit 101R
(To describe more accurately, it indicates a display element at a
right side from the centerline).
Also, in LEVEL 1 (split of one edge to 2 portions), assuming that a
virtual address corresponding to the address "011000" is "X", a
proportional equation is formulated as follows:
The virtual address "X"in Level 1 is computed from the proportional
equation and obtained as follows:
The virtual address "010000" obtained as described above indicates,
as shown in FIG. 15B, a center of the virtual unit 101V
(accurately, indicates a display element at a right side from the
centerline). Namely, this virtual address "010000" indicates that
the virtual unit address of the virtual unit 101V is "01" and the
internal address thereof is "0000". The above result means that
conversion of the address to the virtual address has appropriately
been performed through the proportional equation.
The conversion based on the proportional equation can be applied in
each level. In addition, the operations described above may be
executed each time an instruction is issued, and the conversion may
be performed by preparing a table with virtual addresses allocated
to each display element. In this case, virtual addresses for each
level are allocated to each display element.
Setting of Addresses
After the screen is split by applying the splitting method
described above, a virtual address is set for each split unit,
namely for each virtual unit. Description is made herein for the
operations with reference to a concrete example. Each of the
controllers 103 sets address information for each of display
elements under controls by the unit itself on the screen in a way
shown in FIG. 16A to FIG. 16D.
FIG. 16A shows an entire screen obtained by connecting a plurality
of display units 101 to each other, and shows a state in which the
entire screen is recognized as one area (in other words, one
pixel). In this case, a number of times of splitting the screen
(has the same meaning as the "level") is "0", display resolution
(in other words, a number of areas: resolution) is "1", and a
number of bits required for an address to specify this area is "0"
(namely, because of a unique area). It is not necessary that the
number of display units 101 on its side is a power of two. That is
because virtual units are prepared as described above and splits
are repeated.
When address information is to be set, at first, the screen in FIG.
16A is split into four portions as shown in FIG. 16B, and 2-bit
first virtual addresses such as "00", "01", "10" and "11" are
allocated to positions in correlation to the split screens (areas a
to d) respectively. In this case, a number of times of splitting
the screen is "1", display resolution (in other words, a number of
areas) is "4", and a number of bits required for an address to
specify this area is "2".
Then, the 1/4 screen (areas a to d) specified by the first virtual
address is further split into four portions, and 2-bit second
virtual addresses such as "00", "01", "10" and "11" are allocated
to positions in correlation to the split screens respectively. For
example, when the area a is further split into four portions and
the second virtual addresses are allocated to the four-split areas,
as shown in FIG. 16C, the area e can be identified with the address
"0000" by using the first virtual address and second virtual
address, the area f can be identified with the address "0001", the
area g can be identified with the address "0010", and the area h
can be identified with the address "0011". In this case, a number
of times of splitting the screen is "2", display resolution (in
other words, a number of areas) is "16"and a number of bits
required for an address to specify this area is "4".
Then, as shown in FIG. 16D, the 1/8 screen specified by the second
virtual address is further split into four portions, and 2-bit
third virtual addresses such as "00", "01", "10" and "11" are
allocated to positions in correlation to the split screens
respectively. For example, the 1/16 screen indicated by the area i
can be identified with the address "010101". In this case, a number
of times of splitting the screen is "3", display resolution (in
other words, a number of areas) is "64", and a number of bits
required for an address to specify this area is "6".
Thereafter and on, by executing the processing of splitting the
screen n-times until a number of display elements 102 within the
split screen (namely, an area) is one piece and allocating the n-th
virtual address thereto, address information for each of the
display elements 102 is set with a bit array in which the virtual
addresses are finally arranged in the order from the first to the
n-th. By setting the address information as described above, even
if the screen is constructed by connecting an arbitrary number of
display units 101, a position of each display element 102 (address
information) can be identified.
Stored in the memory 104 of each of the display units 101
constituting the screen is address information for each of the
display elements 102 as a bit array in which the virtual addresses
are arranged in the order from the first to the n-th each set
according to a number of splits from the entire screen. Therefore,
by specifying a range of virtual addresses to be used from the
first to any order of the addresses, the display system 100 can be
used as a screen having the display resolution correlated to a
number of split times for any specified order of virtual addresses.
In other words, the display system 100 can be used for an arbitrary
resolution based on the display resolution at the time of using up
to the n-th virtual address set as the maximum resolution.
It should be noted that the processing of setting the address
information can be carried out each time when power is turned ON,
but basically, the same address information can be used unless the
size of the screen is changed or display elements are replaced.
Data Structure of a Display Signal
Description is made for a data structure of a display signal
outputted from the control unit 300 with reference to FIG. 17 and
FIG. 18. The address information is set in the display system 100
as a bit array in which the virtual addresses are arranged in the
order from the first to the n-th set according to a number of
splits from the entire screen, so that, by specifying a range of
virtual addresses to be used from the first to any order of the
addresses, the display system 100 can be used as a screen having
the display resolution correlated to a number of split times for
any specified order of virtual addresses. In other words, the
display system 100 can be used for an arbitrary resolution based on
the display resolution at the time of using up to the n-th virtual
address set as the maximum resolution.
Accordingly, the display signal has a structure comprising, as
shown in FIG. 17, display resolution information for specifying
display resolution, display address information for identifying a
display element and display data information for indicating display
contents of the display element identified with the display address
information. As clearly understood from the data structure, the
display signal consists of display resolution information,
destination address information identified with display address
information and display data information as a command to the
destination, so that display data corresponding to a target display
element 102 as the destination address can be transferred thereto
without fail even if the data is transmitted through an arbitrary
route based on packet communications.
The display resolution to be specified with the display resolution
information is correlated to a number of split times as described
above, and a range of virtual addresses up to any order thereof (in
other words, a bit length to be used in address information) can be
decided depending on a number of split times. FIG. 18 shows a
correlation between a number of split times, display resolution
information, a bit length of display address information and
display resolution. Four-bit display resolution information can
support as far as display address information with a bit length of
30 bits (15th virtual address). The display resolution at this time
is 1G (giga), which is sufficiently capable of fulfilling demands
for currently conceivable high resolution.
Processing of Displaying Image Data in Display System
Description is made for processing of displaying image data in the
display system with reference to FIG. 19A to FIG. 19C. The display
system 100 transmits, when having received a display signal (image
data) from the control unit 300, the display signal to all the
display units 101 constituting the screen through each signal
transmitting section 105 of each of the display units 101.
While each of the controllers 103 determines, when having received
the display signal, a bit length of the display address information
with reference to the first 4 bits in the display signal (namely,
display resolution information). Herein, assuming that the display
signal 1101 shown in FIG. 19A is received, as it is clear from the
display resolution information "0001" that a bit length of the
display address information is 2 bits, the controller fetches "00"
in the 5th bit and the 6th bit of the display signals as display
address information, and determines whether any address information
coincident with the display address information exists or not by
referring to each upper 2 bits in the address information stored in
the memory 104 of the unit itself. If it is determined that there
is the coincident address information, the controller changes the
state of displaying all the display elements having the
corresponding address information according to the display data
information at the 7th bit of the display signals. While, if it is
determined that there is no coincident address information, the
controller does not change the displayed state. Therefore, all the
display elements 102 in the area 1101A having the address
information "00" are turned ON according to the display data
information "1". It should be noted that, the processing is
explained considering only one color and ON/OFF control thereof to
make the description simple, but it is needless to say that in
practice color display is performed by discretely controlling ON or
OFF of and controlling brightness adjustment to three
light-emitting diodes R, G and B constituting the display element
102.
As shown in FIG. 19B, when the controller 103 receives display
signals 1102 to 1105, as it is clear from the display resolution
information "0010" that a bit length of the display address
information is 4 bits, the controller fetches 4 bits from the 5th
bit to the 8th bit of the display signals as display address
information, and determines whether any address information
coincident with the display address information exists or not by
referring to each upper 4 bits in the address information stored in
the memory 104 of the unit itself. If it is determined that there
is the coincident address information, the controller changes the
state of displaying all the display elements having the
corresponding address information according to the display data
information at the 9.sup.th bit of the display signals. Therefore,
all the display elements 102 in the area 1102A having the address
information "0110" are turned ON according to the display data
information "1". Similarly, all the display elements 102 in the
area 1103A with the address information "1001", in the area 1104A
with the address information "1101" and in the area 1105A with the
address information "1110" are turned ON according to the display
data information "1".
As shown in FIG. 19C, when the controller 103 receives display
signals 1106 to 1108, as it is clear from the display resolution
information "0011" that a bit length of the display address
information is 6 bits, the controller fetches 6 bits from the 5th
bit to the 10th bit of the display signals as display address
information, and determines whether any address information
coincident with the display address information exists or not by
referring to each upper 6 bits in the address information stored in
the memory 104 of the unit itself. If it is determined that there
is the coincident address information, the controller changes the
state of displaying all the display elements having the
corresponding address information according to the display data
information at the 11th bit of the display signals. As a result,
all the display elements 102 in the area 1106A with the address
information "011110", in the area 1107A with the address
information "101101" and in the area 1108A with the address
information "111100" are turned ON according to the display data
information "1".
As described above, with this display system 100, the screen is
split based on virtual units, so that an image is displayed without
being trimmed of any part thereof. In addition, as it does not
matter how many display units 101 are connected, a user can
purchase a desired number of display units 101 to construct a
screen freely of desired size. For this reason, a large screen with
high resolution matching the size of a room can be realized. In
addition, the display units 101 can be added as many as required.
Further, the screen can appropriately be split regardless whether a
number of display elements on one side of a display element is a
power of two or not.
As described above, the display system according to the present
invention comprises a display device obtained by constructing a
screen with a plurality of display units each in turn comprising
display elements arranged in a matrix connected to each other; and
a control unit for virtually repeating an operation of splitting
the screen into four portions by not necessarily setting the
display unit as a unit for splitting but setting the display
element as a minimum unit for splitting, setting a virtual address
for each split unit each time when the screen is split into four
portions, and identifying this virtual address, giving display data
to be displayed to a virtual unit having the corresponding virtual
address, and displaying an image on a part or all of the display
unit, so that an image is displayed without being trimmed of any
part thereof. In addition, size of a screen can freely be set
without requiring a particular number of display elements.
With the display system according to the present invention, a
control unit allocates serial addresses to display elements of each
of the display units from an edge of the constructed screen;
obtains a number of display elements for each split unit by
dividing a total number of the display elements by a number of
splits in a side of the screen; obtains, by comparing values
obtained by successively multiplying the number of display elements
by each value from "0" to "a number of splits -1" to particular
serial addresses, virtual addresses corresponding to the serial
addresses; makes virtual addresses correlated to the serial
addresses to a table for each split level; and performs address
conversion according to this table. For this reason, appropriate
conversion can be performed from addresses in display units to
virtual addresses. In addition, address conversion is executed with
the table, which makes processing speed faster.
With the display system according to the present invention, the
control unit allocates serial addresses to display elements of each
of the display units from an edge of the constructed screen;
obtains a number of display elements for each split unit by
dividing a total number of the display elements by a number of
splits in a side of the screen; and performs address conversion by
multiplying the number of display elements by LEVEL. For this
reason, appropriate conversion can be performed from addresses in
display units to virtual addresses.
With the display system according to the present invention, the
control unit allocates display unit addresses to display units from
an edge thereof, and allocates internal addresses to display
elements; obtains a number of display units for each split unit by
dividing the number of display units by a number of splits in a
side of the screen; multiplies the number of display units for each
split unit by a virtual address to be obtained; and performs
address conversion by identifying any of the display units
according to a real part of the obtained address and identifying an
internal address of any of display units in the display element
according to a decimal part of the address. For this reason,
appropriate conversion can be performed from addresses in display
units to virtual addresses.
With the display system according to the present invention, the
control unit obtains a number of display elements for each split
unit by dividing a number of display elements by a number of splits
in a side of the screen; and handles units of display elements by
executing processing, when a fraction results in the number of
display elements for each split unit, for the corresponding
fraction. For this reason, appropriate conversion can be performed
from addresses in display units to virtual addresses even if a
number of display elements can not equally be divided.
With the display system according to the present invention, the
control unit allocates display element addresses to display units
from an edge thereof, and allocates internal addresses to display
elements for each display element; and obtains virtual addresses
from a proportional equation between a number of display units and
a number of splits of virtual units. For this reason, appropriate
conversion can be performed from addresses in display units to
virtual addresses.
With the display system according to the present invention, the
control unit allocates display unit addresses to display elements
from an edge thereof, and allocates internal addresses to display
elements for each display element; obtains virtual addresses from a
proportional equation between a number of display units and a
number of splits of virtual units; makes virtual addresses
correlated to addresses specified from the display element
addresses and internal addresses to a table for each split level;
and performs address conversion according to this table. For this
reason, appropriate conversion can be performed from addresses in
display units to virtual addresses. In addition, address conversion
is executed with the table, which makes processing speed
faster.
This application is based on Japanese patent application No. HEI
9-290162 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Oct. 22, 1997, the
entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Although the invention has been described with respect to a
specific embodiment for a complete and clear disclosure, the
appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed
as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that
may occur to one skilled in the art which fairly fall within the
basic teaching herein set forth.
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